This morning I was planning my week and groaning at the fact that I probably needed to prep my breakfasts for the week again. Last week, with the Monday holiday and my work-from-home Fridays, I did not prep anything and just went to the cafeteria. But I get kind of bored of the cafeteria, and besides the eggs, I can’t really tell if my breakfast is 100% compliant. Anyway, the major reason for my groaning was that it’s very hard to get excited for reheated egg frittata. And that’s pretty much what I’ve been prepping because it’s easy and portable.

This week I decided to make eggs in a basket, using ham to line muffin tins and eggs in the middle. I went to find a recipe on Pinterest (so, I’m pretty sure I know how to make it, but sometimes I like to read the recipes so I can get tips on how to make sure it’s not a major flop), and instead I found this recipe for a sweet potato and apple hash with ham and eggs. And I was sold!

I made the mistake of only taking a picture on Instagram stories, so it’s not the best picture. But OMG the complexity of flavor was unbelievable! I doubled the recipe, and it made 4 servings, plus 1/2 serving, which I had for lunch. The next time I make this (because there will be a next time), I will cut the potatoes up a bit smaller and wait a little longer before adding the apples. The sweet potatoes took a good bit longer than expected to soften, and the apples consequently turned mushy before the dish was done. It doesn’t made the dish any less delicious, but I think I’d like to see and taste some more prominent apple next time.

Two small complaints about this recipe, in case any of you want to make this: 1. It takes a solid hour to make, starting from the time you start peeling the sweet potatoes to the time it’s all done. It doesn’t seem like it would take this long, but it does.

And 2. It takes a lot of dishes. In prepping, once I chopped the potatoes, ham, onion, and apples, I put them each in a separate bowl so I had room on my cutting board. Then there’s another small bowl to mix the seasonings, and another one to scramble the eggs. Then before cooking the eggs, the recipe says to remove the hash, scramble the eggs in the skillet, and then put everything back in. So that’s another large bowl.

Whelp, I made it 66.66666 percent of the way! One third more to go! I didn’t post yesterday, but it was basically because I didn’t take any food pictures! Still, it was another successful day! I just had a Larabar for breakfast, leftover roast and carrots for lunch, and for dinner we went to a BBQ joint where I ordered grilled chicken breast with green beans. Nothing special, but it was good!

Today I made sugar-free bacon for breakfast and fried a few eggs to go with it. And some blueberries.

For lunch, I finally mustered the courage to try chicken salad. I’ve had chicken salad before– I think I was 5 years old, and I was expecting chicken on salad and not mushed up chicken meat in mayonnaise. So I guess in the 26 years since then I made up my mind that I didn’t like chicken salad. But I had a lot of Whole 30 mayo left, and so I thought I’d give it a try. Here’s the recipe I used, except with dill pickles instead of sweet relish. And no bread, of course!

Hubs approved, and so did I! Not bad at all!

For dinner I made one of hubs’ favorites: potato soup. I tried to make him potato soup several times before, but his mom makes it a certain way that doesn’t include any flour or dairy, and I never could figure it out.

Tonight I gave it another try, and this time it came out great!

Not the most appetizing appearance, but very nice taste! I couldn’t find a recipe online, so I wrote this one down:

Alright, I missed a day of posting, but I was just so tired last night when I got home that I went straight to bed. Yesterday was a little rough. When I got off work I knew that I hadn’t eaten enough for lunch. I only had some leftover chicken fajitas on lettuce with some salsa. Sounds sufficient, but it was only about 1/2 serving because that’s all that was left.

I knew I needed to start going to the gym, but I had a headache, so I stopped at a Starbucks on the way and ordered an iced coffee with coconut milk from the drive thru. As I got back on the road, I took a sip and then almost spat it out! They put sugar in it! I didn’t ask for sugar, but sugar is what I got. So I went to the gym with a headache. Needless to say, it didn’t go well. I did cardio for about 15 minutes on an elliptical (1.2 miles and 150 calories). That’s about all I could do with the headache I had.

For dinner, I met some friends at Grub Burger Bar and got a bunless burger– add bacon and add a fried egg. And omg that was the best decision I made all day…

I know I posted this on Instagram yesterday, but it was just perfection! Yum!

So, I have to admit, I screwed up yesterday. And it totally wasn’t my fault! I was duped!! I went to Target and found an entire section of Bare snacks! I love the cinnamon apple chips and they’re totally Whole 30 approps. Just dried apples and cinnamon. They didn’t have cinnamon apple chips, but something else caught my eye– coconut chips! I excitedly turned the bag over and searched for the ingredients. I saw a small line of text that said “contains tree nuts (coconut). That was all that it said under the nutrition label! So I bought it.

After choir rehearsal last night I popped open the bag and ate a few coconut chips. Omg! It was so good. I was surprised how sweet dried coconut could be! Almost too sweet…

At a stop light I flipped over the bag again and read in big italics on the other side of the nutrition facts table “coconut, cane sugar…”

NOOOOO!!! How can you call yourself Bare and then put added sugar in your food?!?!

So I ate a little sugar. Not a lot, but not a little either. Moral of he story- read the whole bag, not just what you think might be the list of ingredients!

Tonight I made squoodles with peppers and tomatoes, turkey Italian sausage, and salad. Wasn’t my favorite, but hubs thought it was good, so I’m happy!

Also… I went to the gym today and it was much better! I actually did a lot of arm exercises that felt really really good but I know I’ll be really really sore tomorrow.

Ok not that I’m striving to win a popularity contest or anything, but yesterday’s viewership hit an all-time low, 2 views. I’m changing my life over here, but I guess to the outside eye it must be pretty boring. I’m guessing people don’t care to read a blog about what someone ate every single day. It’s so 2010! I get it.

The thing is, I need people to feel excited, because I have zero support system at home. Zero. I made dinner tonight, and hubs said, “No rice?”

So it’s hard. You guys lift me up and make me feel like what I’m doing is worthwhile. It would be like if a marathon runner was just running through a deserted path with nobody to cheer her on. And this is a marathon. I’m on the 14th mile, and I have 2 cheerleaders. And I love you guys.

Anyway…

I was all the way to work today before I realized I’d left my gym bag at home. Womp womp. Needless to say, it’s in my car right now so I don’t forget it again. When I came home today, I thought about doing yoga, but instead I took a nap. Disappointing. I’m going to go do something after this post so today isn’t a total waste.

You know, ever since I started cooking for two (probably about 2 years now), I’ve planned our meals at least weekly, and as a result I always know what’s for dinner. Sometimes I look forward to dinner all day long, and sometimes when I think about what’s for dinner, I say meh… Today was a meh day. Chicken fajitas. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve made chicken fajitas in my entire life. Don’t get me wrong; fajitas are a go-to order when we go to a Mexican restaurant, but I don’t often cook it at home. Seems kinda drab, and chicken breast isn’t hubs’s favorite.

But tonight? Once I started making the fajitas, oh my goodness. I knew it was going to be delicious. I used this recipe as the base for my seasonings. I also used my cast iron pan, added some ghee, and got sizzling! By the time it was done, it looked like something they’d serve me at my favorite Tex-Mex place!

I took it off the stove, and it sizzled for at least two more minutes! Perfect. I was so proud of myself! In my head, I kept hearing Ross from Friends yell “My fajitas!” Classic.

Anyway, I served them on a bed of lettuce with some salsa (Newman’s Own mild salsa is Whole 30 approved! Medium and hot have added sugar though. Go figure.), jalapeños, and avocado slices. And I gobbled it up before I could take another picture!

Now I’m trying to figure out when I can make them again. Super delicious recipe that I have a feeling will be a staple for many years to come.

Yessiree! It’s Day 15. I’m at the top of the peak and now I’m praying it’s a smooth glide down!

I was off today for MLK Day, and for the first time in a long time I went shopping. I just realized that I think I bought 100% of my Christmas gifts online this year, so it had been a while since I’d actually walked into a brick-and-mortar store (I guess I’m part of what will eventually lead to the end of the physical store. I’m strengthening the Amazon empire, I suppose). Apart from grocery stores, that is!

Anyway, I ended up with a Le Creuset serving platter and a Breville toaster oven, which was a long time coming! I realized that I rarely spend money on the things normal women shop for– like high-end clothes, shoes, haircuts, etc., but I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I treated myself to a toaster oven!

Tada! I can’t wait to use it! (It’s on in this pic because the instructions said to turn it on for a few minutes prior to first use.

Once again, meals today were a breeze! I made another hash and egg breakfast like yesterday, except like I said, I made my eggs over- easy today and enjoyed it so much better!

For lunch, I basically had the contents of a hamburger in salad form. Sooo good, and I got to use some more of my homemade mayo!

Since I was off today, I had lots of time to make dinner, so I made my grandmother’s roast. It’s basically a pot roast stuffed with garlic and green onion, but it’s so good! And it was very good! I also made mashed potatoes (with ghee and coconut milk!) and green beans. So delicious and 100% compliant! I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture until after I’d dug in! Sorry!

Today I went off-script (i.e., no recipe) and created something decent.

I must say, this is my weekend to try new recipes I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like but actually turned out to be not-so-bad. Yesterday was the mayo. Today was cauliflower rice.

Growing up, I had a very sensitive sense of smell and an even more sensitive gag reflex. This meant that when my class would enter the cafeteria at lunch time, if I smelled something adverse, I… um… showed everyone what I had for breakfast. Every.single.time. It got to the point where I’d have to sit at the very back of the cafeteria and be served my a teacher anytime broccoli or cabbage was served. They called me the “green girl” which could I guess have several meanings. Same would happen at Granny’s on New Years when she made cabbage, one whiff inside the house where cabbage was made, and I was heading straight to the bathroom. She started to make cabbage the previous day to allow her kitchen ample time to air out, just to appease my gag reflex!

I swear this has a point.

As my little anecdote indicated, I have a pretty acute aversion to the smell of cruciferous vegetables. I got over broccoli eventually, but taking a chance with cauliflower seemed to be a bit too much. So I never did.

But today I was feeling brave. And I needed an idea for dinner tonight because my plan for cooking lots of soup was foiled when God said “Let it be 70 degrees for the rest of the winter.”

So anyway, I ended up making some cauliflower rice. And it smelled awful, but it tasted quite good! I used it in the stuffing to make stuffed peppers!

I also bought some ghee today because I was missing some butter flavor in my life. Tonight I used it to sauté some onions and celery, which also went into the stuffing with ground beef and ground pork. Last, I mixed in an egg to bond it together.

Hubs liked it. I thought it was ok and a pretty good attempt considering I was working with new ingredients. Next time I think I’ll top it with tomato sauce.

Oh! I know this is out of order, but breakfast was pretty good too! I found a frozen hash with potatoes, onions, and peppers, and just a quick stir fry and two eggs made a very tasty meal!

I know sunny-side-up eggs make a prettier picture, but I think from now on I’m going to just do over-easy. I have a hard time making sure the egg white next to the yolk gets cooked before the bottom gets overcooked. I ended up popping this puppy in the microwave for about 30 seconds to finish cooking it. Still a very satisfying breakfast!

Lunch was just an overpriced salad at the movie theater. I would have taken a picture, but I didn’t get my salad until halfway through the movie (seriously, it took 55 minutes to prepare and serve a green salad with cold chicken)! So I don’t even know what it looked like, but it was enough.

Whelp, today marks 2 weeks on my Whole 30 journey, and tomorrow marks the halfway point. I wish I could say I was really seeing the results, but so far, I’m kinda not. Hoping at the end there’s a significant difference on the scale (I haven’t weighed myself since Day -1). I’m optimistic!

Today I felt a bunch of the side effects that was supposed to be expected in Days 1-10. What the heck?? I thought I was finally out of the bad times and it should be smooth sailing by now. But instead I was tired– I slept in and even had a nap! I felt bloated! And I’m kinda moody! It’s like I’m starting to resent this diet. Like, it’s an unnecessary sacrifice that’s weighing greater than the rewards these days. Then I have to remind myself that it’s not even been two weeks! I’ve got more time to go than I’ve put in. And good things come to those who wait.

Today I finally bit the bullet and tried to make mayo. I bought a small bottle of light-tasting olive oil specifically for the recipe. My plan was to make it in my food processor, and so I cracked the egg and put the other ingredients. But then I hit a roadblock. See, you have to pour the olive oil in very slowly while continuing to blend the mayo, and my food processor won’t run unless the top is on! So I’d blend, then add, blend, then add. And the egg never emulsified. I ended with a runny mess!

So I tried again, this time with my immersion blender, but I didn’t have enough oil (since I had to start over), so I had to add some evoo as well. It came out nice and thick the second time, but the taste is a bit strong. I added a good bit of lemon juice and salt to cover the olivey taste, and I think it’ll do!

For breakfast this morning I finally had some luck with eggs-in-a-basket! Usually the egg escapes the meat, which shrivels in the pan, and I’m left with a mess! This time was much better!

That’s just some prosciutto and eggs, baked to perfection (which to me means the white is done and the yolk is runny!) I didn’t actually eat that banana; my plate just looked so bare with only those two little eggs, so I added the banana for the picture! There is, however, a whole banana in the pictured smoothie, plus some strawberries and a tablespoon of coconut milk!

For dinner I made burgers, and mine was bunless! I topped it with some of my mayo and mustard, and it wasn’t bad (the picture isn’t that pretty though)!

I also roasted some carrots that I meant to have with my dinner, but they took longer to roast that I thought! Erego, when they were done, I sprinkled some cinnamon on them for a nutritious desert! It was so tasty!

Anyway, hoping tomorrow I’m a bit closer to the way I think I should be feeling at this point. I’ll have another challenge to face (the movies!!). Stay tuned!